The digital dystopia

@wwaycorrigan

[Listen to an audio version of this blog entry here.]

For some people, the move to a totally digital, online world is a delightful development. 

Procedures that once required us to physically go somewhere can now be done via the swipe of a screen or the touch of a button with next to no exertion needed.

Opting out of the digital world is next to impossible.

Such advancements are presented to us as timesavers that allow for greater efficiency with what were heretofore tedious tasks.

A con-venience

In the world of banking and bill-paying, this is certainly the case. Many transactions can now be done via a computer or smartphone, so no more hours are lost waiting in a queue. And I'm all on for reducing the number of queues I have to stand in.

The same goes for shopping, although I do prefer to go out and make in-person purchases, especially for clothing and groceries.

There are, though, downsides to such digital delights.

For starters, there's troubleshooting. When there's a problem, getting to communicate with an actual human being can be quite the task.

Indeed, with some businesses and institutions, it's almost as if they don't want you to be able to make contact with a living person. This is — surprise, surprise — particularly so when it comes to making a complaint: A policy of, 'frustrate the complainant to the point where he/she will just give up'.

The social media giants are masters at this. Perhaps this is because many employees in Silicon Valley — and its offshoots — aren't really social beings and thus are unable to properly engage with people.

'A person can be logged out of the system just as easily as he/she logged in. From social credit to socially discredited.'

In any case, we're not usually talking about life-or-death concerns when it comes to social media. In other areas, such as healthcare and security, the ability to talk to a living person in real time is usually more critical when problems arise.

Controlled

There's also the rather important matter of simply being able to function in today's society. Those who fully embrace the digital drive often portray it as a way 'to be in greater control of our lives'. This might be so for the likes of Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg — the elite who have access to the controls — but for us mere plebs, not quite.

So while smartphone apps and electronic payments may have made regular banking a breeze and resulted in fewer fees, there are other prices to pay. 

Just how in control can one be of one's finances when somebody else is virtually holding the purse strings?

There have been a number of alarming instances in the not-very-free free world where citizens have had access to their accounts frozen for the crime of dissenting against the government of the day (see, for example, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/22/world/americas/canada-protest-finances.html, as well as the case of English journalist Graham Phillips, https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-62308528 & https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-11065067/PETER-HITCHENS-Freedom-means-freedom-nasty-people.html). 

How wonderfully democratic and liberal, eh?

Fair enough, denying people access to their bank accounts predates today's digital age. 

However, in the past, payment in cash for pretty much anything was still an option. In contrast, in most high-income nations today, it has become extremely difficult to pay with notes and coins (this isn't quite the case yet in Colombia, thankfully).

In such an environment, a person can be logged out of the system just as easily as he/she logged in. From social credit to socially discredited.

There are those who see little wrong with this. The argument is that law-abiding citizens have nothing to worry about. The "democratic" West's checks and balances are a bulwark against injustices.

That's great in theory. Yet, as mentioned above regarding the freezing of bank accounts of people who have not been convicted of a crime and as seen with the actions taken against those who refused, with solid arguments, to take covid-19 vaccines, the empirical evidence is far from reassuring.

Yes, there are few things in this world over which we have complete control. However, the digitalisation of many aspects of our daily lives is moving us to a position where we'll have no real control over hardly anything.

With each new technological convenience managed by largely invisible, unaccountable actors, we have a further dissolution of what's left of an individual's independence. 

Welcome to the digital dystopia.
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Listen to Wrong Way's Colombia Cast podcast here.

Facebook: Wrong Way Corrigan — The Blog & IQuiz "The Bogotá Pub Quiz".

A somewhat pleasant surprise ...

@wwaycorrigan

Well, this visa approval (see photos below) was somewhat unexpected considering I couldn't get a similar type two years ago, i.e. an M visa as an independent professional (see https://wwcorrigan.blogspot.com/2020/09/colombias-independent-work-visa-vale-la.html), and had to make do with a "weaker" V visa up to now. 

Following changes by La Cancillería this year, that V visa I was granted 12 months ago no longer exists. So I had no real other option but to apply for this M one.

Clearly, President Petro's administration is a progressive one — progressive in a positive way that is, of course!

The ability to maintain as much individual independence as possible is important in a world that tends to work against such types.

And it comes exactly 11 years after my return to Colombia. At the time, it was no more than a case of 'let's give Colombia a lash', in terms of living there for a while. Here I still am!

Approved.

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Listen to Wrong Way's Colombia Cast podcast here.

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My blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance in La Reina del Sur III!

@wwaycorrigan

Goodness! For all the effort and, um, thespian talent I brought to these scenes from La Reina del Sur series three (episode two), surely I deserved a little more screen time!

For the record (in case you missed it in the video above), in the only lines I have, I'm the DEA agent who hands the instruction manual for the inflatable boat to my superior (the actor Ed Trucco) at the end of the clip.

Clearly, I need a bigger platform! Dark forces are trying to hold me back!

*I did get a bit more exposure in the following, from a few years back, https://wwcorrigan.blogspot.com/2021/09/blast-from-past-making-scene-in-sin.html.

**For more on La Reina del Sur, see https://www.telemundo.com/shows/la-reina-del-sur.

Wrong Way Corrigan to the rescue!

My one line, cooly delivered!

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Listen to Wrong Way's Colombia Cast podcast here.

Facebook: Wrong Way Corrigan — The Blog & IQuiz "The Bogotá Pub Quiz".

The just-how-it-is society

@wwaycorrigan

[Listen to an audio version of this blog entry here.]

'I'm sorry, but we can't accept that photocopy of your ID.'
'Eh, why not? It's legible, isn't it?'
'Oh, it is, it's just it has to be enlarged to 150 per cent of its actual size.'
'But why?'
'Those are the rules, Sir. It's just the way it is.'

'Don't ask questions, just follow the "rules".'

Anyone who has ever had to do official business in Colombia over the years will relate to the above. There's this fastidiousness, or at least there had been, about having photocopies of documents set to a specific size.

No doubt there was some valid reason for this when it was first introduced but few — if anybody — appear to know what that reason is now. Yet, I believe, it's still a requirement in some places.

A price for pay

Such occurrences are far from unique to these parts. Across the world, there are procedures that must be followed yet when one asks why this or that is the case, hardly anyone knows the reason. Basically, they've become customary and nobody bothers to question them.

Government bodies tend to be the worst culprits (the following satirical video gives a good idea of this, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYcZc62Gf6w) but it happens elsewhere, too.

The one that always bemuses me is the need to supply paymasters with a certificate issued by my bank stating that the account exists and is genuine. Why on earth would I not give details of an active, "real" account when I want to receive money owed to me for services rendered?

I've heard it said that this is to prove that I am the account holder. OK, but what business is it of those paying me where the money goes, particularly when we're talking about private individuals? Maybe, on the odd occasion, I'd like the money sent to one of my barrio buddies (at least that way there'd be a paper record of these frequent loans I give).

'Whatever we're doing or following may indeed be broken or causing harm and we don't realise it.'

I've also been told that this payment protocol is done to cut out money laundering. I'm not sure how it manages to do that exactly.

Mentioning payments, there is a tendency in the largely toxic TV and film industry here to pay contractors a minimum of 90 days after work has been done. Again, when you ask why this is, you get the standard retort: 'It's just how it is.'

What would happen if I took the same line with paying my bills? Well, I've actually a very good idea of what the consequences are — see my previous post, Grupo Vanti's vanity: 'The customer is rarely right', for more on that.

We are, though, creatures of habit and routine. And if everything seems to be just fine, we'll stick to it: The if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it approach. The problem is, whatever we're doing or following may indeed be broken or causing harm and we don't realise it.

Fishy feeling

Take people's approach to eating. We've been conditioned, particularly since the Industrial Revolution, into believing that we must eat at least three substantial meals in a 12-hour period or so. With the sedentary lifestyles many lead these days, they'd most likely get by on just one decent dish a day, if that's even needed.

We do, of course, face many challenges in rethinking our consumption habits. There's a whole industry with lots of money, power and influence that wants us to eat, drink and be merry all the time. Then there's an associated industry ready to ease the pain on our overfed bodies with even more addictive goodies.

What all this should lead to is plenty of food for thought. Alas, when it comes to critically thinking about what we're doing, what we're being asked to do and why we're doing it many, literally, don't give these considerations a second's thought.

I'm reminded of a story of a family who used to cut raw, whole fish in a very particular, time-consuming way before frying it in the pan. Eventually, somebody questioned the practice. It was found that it started simply because a great-grandmother only had one very small pan to cook with, so she had to cut the fish the way she did.

This made perfect sense at the time and in the circumstances — in fact, it was necessary — but the reason for its continuance had long since passed.

So it can often pay off to rediscover that unceasing child inquisitiveness, to regularly ask 'Why?'. With that, we might find that there's little substance or sense behind much of what we're being asked to do.
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Listen to Wrong Way's Colombia Cast podcast here.

Facebook: Wrong Way Corrigan — The Blog & IQuiz "The Bogotá Pub Quiz".

The calm of La Palma (when music's not blaring, that is!)

@wwaycorrigan

[Listen to an audio version of this blog entry here.]

It's not exactly a case of hit-and-miss for me when it comes to visiting random Colombian pueblos. 

When an escape from Bogotá's badness and madness is needed, pretty much any town will suffice. It is the getting away that matters more so; the destination is largely of secondary importance.

Pretty La Palma: An impressive setting but it has lots of competition in this regard.

Some towns, though, naturally enough, have more going for them than others. Of course, that 'going for them' is subjective. My likes are another's dislikes (and it seems, shockingly enough, that my likes are far from universally shared).

The long and winding road

Regardless of a visitor's preferences, however, La Palma, in the north-west of Colombia's Cundinamarca department, is unlikely to get top marks in any category.

Yes, its setting is impressive. But the same can be said for pretty much any Andean town. Ditto for its friendly-but-not-overbearingly-so locals.

That it's not quite a popular tourist spot is, as far as I'm concerned, more a positive than a negative. Yet, with that, there's the what's-there-to-do question. OK, I like wandering around hilly terrain, but La Palma has plenty of better-organised competition in this regard.

The journey getting there does see one pass through some rather spectacular Andean scenery as the way winds alongside the fast-flowing Río Negro at various intervals.

However, after Pacho, large tracts of the road resemble conditions akin to what the Spanish must have had to deal with when on their initial rampage in these parts. 

In contrast, for example, on the equally aesthetically pleasing and winding route to San Luis de Gaceno, 26 kilometres further away from Bogotá than La Palma (in another direction that is), the road is more 20th century than 15th century.

The result is that having safely arrived in La Palma, one really needs at least 48 hours there before facing into the return journey. Perhaps the locals want it that way.

'Years ago, it probably was a no-go area for visitors but, like many places in Colombia, today it seems safe.'

Tucked away at an altitude of just under 1,500 metres above sea level and surrounded by many forested hills, the town's mid-20s (degrees Celsius) temperature average is more than agreeable. It makes the thunderous downpours of this time of year more tolerable compared to a chillier, duller Bogotá.

As is the case with many similar-sized towns in Colombia, there are various hotel options. I threw in my lot with Hotel Ruby, just off the main square. 

While there are "fancier" options, when one just needs a comfortable bed with toilet facilities in a relatively clean environment and, of course, steady Wi-Fi, Ruby does the job. At 20,000 pesos per night, it's also far from extortionate.

A day rambling the usually quiet roads around La Palma.

However, what is a little — just a little — more expensive in La Palma compared to my basic Bogotá barrio is socialising. This is because this side of Cundinamarca — it's the same in nearby El Peñón — is averse to 750 ml/litre bottles of beer.

Thus, one gets less pop for one's peso, so to put it i.e. 2,500 pesos for 330 ml of Poker in La Palma versus 4,000 pesos for a litre in my Bogotá local. It does encourage one to drink less all the same, so it has its plus side.

Also lacking, considering the town's size — easily twice as big as San Luis de Gaceno and a good bit bigger than El Peñón — are a few standard, traditional tiendas. 

By traditional, I refer to what some may consider tacky. This is "tacky" in terms of tables and chairs anyway — those Aguila- or Poker-labelled plastic ones supplied by Colombia's beer beast, Bavaria.

Something in the air

Balancing out this beer bleakness, it has the odd establishment that actually offers decent coffee. This is quite the positive in light of the fact that in many non-touristy Colombian towns getting an unsweetened, strong brew is practically impossible.

One, somewhat strange commonality La Palma has with other places at a similar altitude is that it occasionally has a certain whiff in the air. It reminds me of a globally popular Colombian product, beginning with the letter 'c'. No, not coffee, the other one.

I must add, I did not see it nor did I get any hint that the locals consume it. I'm solely referring to that distinct, petrol-like smell of the substance in its refined form. And I don't think it was simply petrol that I smelt.

Now, my Bogotá friends did tell me that La Palma was 'caliente', 'hot'. They weren't, though, referring to the weather. By this 'caliente' they meant it was a conflict zone. I got no real hint of that. 

Years ago, it probably was a no-go area for visitors but, like many places in the country, today it seems safe. One is unlikely to find trouble unless one looks for it.

My biggest bugbear was the loud music blaring out of a couple of bars on the main square well into the early hours on my first night there, a Friday. The thin walls and open-court layout of Hotel Ruby offer scant sound insulation.

This particular racket might have been for a special occasion, as it wasn't as much of an issue on the subsequent nights. And going by the overall vibe, I'm sure things are rather tranquil midweek.

I won't, however, be in any mad rush back to see if that is actually the case. This isn't to say that I didn't like my stay there. On the contrary, I enjoyed it.

It's just that, from Bogotá, there are easier country towns to get to. It's far from a rule that the more taxing the journey is in inverse proportion to the quality of the destination.
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Listen to Wrong Way's Colombia Cast podcast here.

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